get dizzy!

brush my hair?

Can I tell you one of my secrets? I ABSOLUTELY love it when I get my hair brushed. Sounds weird I know but it relaxes me so much and can put me to sleep. When I would babysit in high school and college, I would always ask the kids if they would want to do my hair. Of course, I would often end up with frizzed out, messed up hair but gosh, it was completely worth the 10 minutes of bliss. I love getting my haircut because of the part when they shampoo and blowdry and brush my hair. Ahhhh....I love just thinking about it.

Tonight Addelyn was taking her little doll's brush (it came in a pack of doll supplies- the miniture versions of everything from a bib to a potty chair for her "babydoll") and started to brush my hair. I was extremely excited as I realized I have entered the stage where I can ask her to brush my hair. It only lasted for a few minutes but she found those few minutes extremely entertaining and hilarious; she laughed the whole time she did it for some reason!

The best part....Mark asked Addelyn if she would brush his hair too. He leaned his head over and she took the brush and ran it through his hair for a split second. Then, after a moment's thought, she took the brush and began to run it through his leg hair! The mind of a toddler, I love it!

pictures tell a story

My energy level for blogging lately has been low. Everytime I think of what I'll write, I lose energy to sit down and do it. Hang in there with me today. We'll see how this goes!

My friend Jess invited Addelyn and I to go along with her and her boys for a day trip to the Iowa State Fair. It was the first time I have spent a day there since high school (going there at night to see The Nadas probably doesn't count!) We had a great day. It was ninety degree weather so we TRULY experienced the fair in it's fullness. My fair food of the day was a Gyro. Not bad but I'm kicking myself for skipping the funnel cake. GRRR....In the above and below picture, we were at Little Hands on the Farm, where kids get to do all the things they would do on a farm- plant and pick veggies, ride a tractor, milk a cow, sell their produce, etc. It was such a fun kid's activity. Addelyn is not quite at the stage to understand (as she chewed on her fake carrot) but still it was lots of fun and very hands on.

With the HOT weather, what a better place at the state fair to be than by the fountains?! Addelyn LOVED playing here and running around, splashing in puddles and screaming!

Sweet corn. YUM. My sister Jill was hanging out the other night and we realized we eat our corn exactly the same (with only two rows left when we get to the end.) Must be a weird Kramer girl thing!

Bye Bye ba ba. We said goodbye to the bottle during the day months and months ago but still Addelyn drank her bottle at night before bed. Finally a few weeks ago, we decided it was time to put the bottle away for good! We made a game of it and set bottles around the house. She had a bag and ran around and picked them all up. Then she "helped" Daddy put them in the trash and said goodbye to the ba ba. (Don't worry, we snuck them back inside to save for baby #2). The transition of goodbye to the bottle went well. We have a new routine where she gets a cup of milk while we look at books and pictures (she loves photo albums) and then we brush our teeth and head to her room to say our prayers and go to sleep. I think it was harder on me to say goodbye to the bottle! It marked a milestone for me- that Addelyn is no longer my little baby.

My Dad and Lora have baby kittens on their farm. Addelyn absolutely LOVES the kitties and last time she played there she figured out she could pick them up and carry them around. The kitties were such good sports! They would let her carry them and purr the whole time. Once she even carried one by its hind legs and it just hung there, as happy-go-lucky as could be.

This summer, our relatives from Alaska came to visit. Addelyn had fun hanging out with her cousin Kendall and we even took time for a visit to the pool together. Autumn (who is 6 months older than Addelyn) is her other cousin and it was fun watching them interact. Of course, it isn't easy to get a picture with everyone looking!

we don't have a dog....

....so instead, we teach our toddler new tricks. :)

this summer so far in pictures....

Here are some pictures of some fun stuff we've been doing this summer. On Sunday, Mommy & I leave for Caravan. We are excited! Daddy is staying home for the week and holding down the fort. Enjoy these pics and I'm sure we'll have many more when we get back.

Love, Addelyn

I love to sit in the driver's seat and "drive" the car.
I DO NOT like to get out of the car.

I LOVE sweet corn. YUM!

I like to have my "baby" do the same things I do- eat, sit on the potty, dance, play, and more.

My mommy and her friends ran their first half-marathon in June. I cheered her on!

We went to Sturgis Falls Celebration and hung out in the park with friends and ate yummy food and danced to the music.

I hung out with my buddy, Boaz.

I went to Wildwood Hills Ranch in St. Charles, IA with Mommy and Laura and Sara and Nathan for a day to see Uncle Tanner and other kids we know from Waterloo at their week of camp.

I even got to go in the lake!

We went on a vacation to St. Louis with our friends the Hansen family. Here we were at the zoo, visiting the penguins.

This is just a glimpse of our fun summer. Thanks for looking at my pictures! See you in a week!

The First Let Down

Yesterday when Addelyn and I got home from our day (mine at work, hers at the babysitter's house), I told her we could go on a walk. She got VERY excited and wanted to go immediately. I told her that we first had to go in and see her daddy. She finally agreed (when I carried her inside crying). She wanted to go for a walk and I had said we were going! She couldn't understand that it didn't mean RIGHT NOW at this exact minute.

We walked into the house and Mark brought up the idea of packing a picnic and going to the pool (it was already around 5:15 p.m.) It had been a weirdly cold summer day but finally was starting to warm up. We figured the pool would be dead so we got excited and quickly packed up and put our suits on. I told Addelyn that instead of going on a walk, that we would go to the pool. She got REALLY excited and ran to get her suit on. I think she forgot about the walk idea.

We drove to the pool, talking on the ride over about how much fun we'd have going on the slide. She kept giving us a huge grin and making her little excited squeal and breathy noises. As we pulled in at the pool, we saw an empty parking lot. Closed. SERIOUSLY??? So we turned the car around and decided to head to another local pool. At least there are more options (we thought). We got out and walked up to the pool gates only to find out they were closed for swim lessons. Strike two.

As we turned around and walked to our car from the pool gates, I said to Mark, "I made two promises to Addelyn today and then didn't keep either of them." As the three of us sulked on our way home (okay, so Addelyn didn't really sulk she just ate her snacks), I thought about the significance of what had just happened. She is only 1 1/2 and probably won't remember the fact that I told her I'd take her for a walk and then didn't. Or the fact that I said we'd go to the pool and then we didn't. However, that is life. There are going to be many times that Mark and I will want a certain outcome or option for our lives and for Addelyn's life and it won't go that way. It was a huge realization of the big picture for me. I want to be a mom who follows through on the promises that I have "control of" if that makes any sense. I don't want to be someone who tells her something and than never holds to my word. Most importantly though, I want to be a mom who can roll with the punches when life takes turns we don't necessarily expect or want. I want to be a mom that teaches my daughter to do the same (with a smile on her face!)

We got home and got out the garden hose. Addelyn ran up and down our sidewalk, screaming and laughing as Mark squirted her with water. That was better than the pool anyway!

Happy Fourth of July!

We decided to try out the good ole snakes and poppers for our 4th of July celebration (two favorites from when Mark and I were kids)!